Hard disk drive breather filter enabling sorbent replacement

Abstract

A sorbent breather filter for an electronic device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) is configured with a first chamber for housing a first sorbent and environmentally coupled with an external environment via at least a first orifice and a second orifice, a corresponding replaceable first sorbent such as zeolite or silica gel beads in the first chamber, a second chamber adjacent to the first chamber for housing a second sorbent, and a corresponding second sorbent such as carbon beads in the second chamber. The first orifice is a through-hole such that the first sorbent can be loaded into the first chamber therethrough, and the second orifice is a slitted or grated hole such that the first sorbent cannot move from the first chamber to the external environment through the second orifice while loading sorbent into the first chamber through an HDD first cover breather hole.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A hard disk drive, the hard disk drive comprising:
 a plurality of disk media rotatably mounted on a spindle; 
 a head slider comprising a read-write head configured to write to and to read from a disk medium of the plurality of disk media; 
 a rotary actuator configured to move the head slider to access portions of the disk medium; 
 an enclosure comprising a cover coupled with a base and in which the disk medium, the head slider, and the rotary actuator are housed, wherein the cover comprises a breather hole; and 
 a breather filter positioned within the enclosure and environmentally coupled with an external environment on one side and an internal environment on another opposing side, the breather filter comprising:
 a first chamber configured for housing a first sorbent and environmentally coupled with the external environment via at least a first orifice and a second orifice; 
 a first sorbent in the first chamber; 
 a second chamber adjacent to the first chamber and configured for housing a second sorbent and environmentally coupled with the internal environment; and 
 a second sorbent in the second chamber; 
 wherein: 
 the first orifice of the breather filter is configured as a through-hole between the external environment and the first chamber such that the first sorbent can be loaded into the first chamber via the breather hole of the cover and the first orifice while the breather filter is installed within the enclosure, and 
 the second orifice of the breather filter is configured as a grating between the external environment and the first chamber such that the first sorbent cannot move from the first chamber to the external environment via the second orifice while loading the first sorbent into the first chamber while the breather filter is installed within the enclosure. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The hard disk drive of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first sorbent of the breather filter comprises a zeolite material in the form of beads; and 
 the second sorbent of the breather filter comprises a carbon material in the form of beads. 
 
     
     
       3. The hard disk drive of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first sorbent of the breather filter comprises a silica gel material in the form of beads; and 
 the second sorbent of the breather filter comprises a carbon material in the form of beads. 
 
     
     
       4. The hard disk drive of  claim 1 , wherein the first orifice is configured such that the first sorbent can be unloaded from the first chamber via the breather hole of the cover and the first orifice while the breather filter is installed within the enclosure. 
     
     
       5. The hard disk drive of  claim 1 , wherein the second chamber of the breather filter is adjacent to the first chamber in a direction from the external environment to the internal environment. 
     
     
       6. A sorbent breather filter configured for installation within a hard disk drive, and sorbent loading/unloading while within the hard disk drive and outside of a clean-room environment, the sorbent breather filter comprising:
 a first chamber configured for housing a first sorbent and environmentally coupled with an external environment via at least a first orifice and a second orifice; 
 a first sorbent in the first chamber; 
 a second chamber adjacent to the first chamber and configured for housing a second sorbent; and 
 a second sorbent in the second chamber; 
 wherein:
 the first orifice of the breather filter is configured as a through-hole between the external environment and the first chamber and is positioned for alignment with a hard disk drive breather hole such that the first sorbent can be loaded into the first chamber via the first orifice while the sorbent breather filter is installed within the hard disk drive; and 
 the second orifice of the breather filter is configured as a slitted-hole between the external environment and the first chamber such that the first sorbent cannot move from the first chamber to the external environment via the second orifice while air flows out from the sorbent breather filter via the second orifice while loading the first sorbent into the first chamber while the sorbent breather filter is installed within the hard disk drive. 
 
 
     
     
       7. The sorbent breather filter of  claim 6 , wherein:
 the first sorbent comprises zeolite or silica gel beads; and 
 the second sorbent comprises carbon beads. 
 
     
     
       8. A hard disk drive comprising the sorbent breather filter of  claim 7 . 
     
     
       9. The sorbent breather filter of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the first orifice is configured such that the first sorbent can be unloaded from the first chamber via application of suction to the first orifice while the breather filter is installed within the hard disk drive. 
 
     
     
       10. The sorbent breather filter of  claim 6 , wherein the second chamber is adjacent to the first chamber in a direction away from the external environment. 
     
     
       11. The sorbent breather filter of  claim 6 , further comprising a first sheet filter positioned between the first and second chambers. 
     
     
       12. The sorbent breather filter of  claim 11 , further comprising a second sheet filter adjacent to the second chamber in a position opposing the first sheet filter. 
     
     
       13. A method of refilling a sorbent breather filter positioned inside a hard disk drive (HDD), the method comprising:
 for a sorbent breather filter comprising a first compartment environmentally coupled with an environment external to the HDD via a through-hole in a container of the breather filter and a grate-covered orifice in the container of the breather filter, a first means for adsorbing in the first compartment, a second compartment adjacent to the first compartment and environmentally coupled with an internal environment of the HDD, and a sorbent in the second compartment:
 applying a suction force to the through-hole via a collinear breather hole of an enclosure cover of the HDD, from the environment external to the HDD, to remove the first means for adsorbing from the first compartment; and 
 injecting another unit of first means for adsorbing into the first compartment via the through-hole, such that the grate-covered orifice prohibits any of the other unit of first means for adsorbing from moving from the first compartment to the environment external to the HDD via the grate-covered orifice. 
 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 prior to applying the suction force, removing a temporary seal covering the breather in the enclosure cover. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 13 , wherein:
 the sorbent breather filter further comprises carbon beads in the second compartment; and 
 the applying and the injecting are performed external to a clean-room environment. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the second compartment of the breather filter is adjacent to the first compartment in a direction from the environment external to the HDD to the internal environment of the HDD. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the sorbent breather filter further comprises a sheet filter positioned between the first and second compartments.